Stratford’s Dennis Williams was named to the coaching staff of Canada’s national men’s summer under-18 team that will compete at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August.

The Everett Silvertips head coach and former Cullitons star will serve as an assistant to Spokane Chiefs bench boss Dan Lambert.

“I want to thank Hockey Canada for granting an opportunity to serve on the coaching staff for the upcoming Hlinka Gretzky Cup,” Williams said in a story on the Silvertips’ website. “It’s a great honour to work on a stage of this magnitude under Alan Millar of the Hockey Canada Program of Excellence management group and the entire executive staff, and on the bench with head coach Dan Lambert of the Spokane Chiefs and Mario Duhamel of the Ottawa 67s. I’m looking forward to helping our program elevate so many well deserved, participating players, and represent our country in the pursuit to win a gold medal.”

Williams, 39, has led the Silvertips to consecutive 47-win seasons and U.S. Division titles. He was named WHL Western Conference Coach of the Year in 2017-18 after the Silvertips captured the conference championship.

Williams is the most successful head coach in franchise history through his first two seasons after guiding the club to a 94-36-4-6 (.707 pct) record.

“First and foremost, we extend a tremendous amount of congratulations to Dennis for a well-deserved opportunity to serve on the coaching staff for Hockey Canada at the upcoming Hlinka Gretzky Cup, a prestigious event that’s renowned for development of top young talent in the world,” Silvertips general manager Garry Davidson said. “It’s a testimony to his work ethic, intelligence, and elite level coaching abilities with elevating players and manufacturing winning results, apparent in the last two seasons with our program. We’re extremely proud of him and know he will represent the Silvertips well in upcoming international competition.”

Hockey Canada also officially named London Knights head coach Dale Hunter as its U20 coach.

“We are excited about the two coaching staffs that have been assembled for Canada’s national junior team and Canada’s national men’s summer under-18 team, both of which include a combination of Canadian Hockey League, National Hockey League and international coaching experience,” Shawn Bullock, director of men’s national teams for Hockey Canada, said in a press release. “We know all six coaches will represent our country with a tremendous amount of pride as they look to bring home gold medals at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship and 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.”

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After scoring nine goals and adding two assists in 30 regular season games with the Texas Stars, Stratford’s Brad McClure re-signed with the American Hockey League club this week.

McClure, 25, made his professional debut in 2018-19 after four seasons with Minnesota State University-Mankato.

McClure started his season with Idaho in the ECHL and had 19 goals and 39 points in 42 games before his call-up to the Stars. The five-foot-11 winger scored his first AHL goal Feb. 19 in overtime against Iowa.

McClure rejoined Idaho in the playoffs and produced three goals and five points in nine games as the Steelheads advanced to the Mountain Division final.